NEC/Netcracker, Red Hat, Juniper and Dell EMC combine for Malaysian virtualization platform

NEC and Netcracker have announced a new tie up with Red Hat, Juniper Networks and Dell EMC to offer an end-to-end multivendor 5G-ready virtualization platform in Malaysia.

The new collaboration will see NEC and Netcracker position itself as a full SDN/NFV solution provider, offering services to both ISPs and enterprise customers. The pair claim the proposition will allow them to design and deploy a network architecture concepts, able to virtualize entire classes of network node functions into building blocks that may connect or chain together to create communication services.

“Around the world we are seeing service providers in the US, South Korea, Sweden, Estonia, Turkey, Japan and China upgrading their network infrastructure in preparation to offer 5G communications services which are imminent,” said Chong Kai Wooi, Managing Director, NEC Corporation of Malaysia

“Commercializing such services, including the massive connectivity of people, transportation, objects and cities, is expected to take off in the next two to three years.”

The new collaboration claims that time to market for new services will be drastically reduced with the platform. While it is believed service providers and enterprises need six to twelve months to introduce a new service, with the Ecosystem 2.0 Program, this can be reduced by up to 70%.

In terms of the other players in the tie up, Red Hat will be offering its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution, Juniper’s NFV networking services platform will be used to integrate physical and virtual elements, while Dell EMC will also contribute on the NFV front with its PowerEdge platform.

“As the industry moves quickly towards 5G technology, getting the management and orchestration environment right is critical to enable new IoT use cases requiring dynamic network slicing,” said Aloke Tusnial, CTO of SDN/NFV at Netcracker. “This is a key focus for us at Netcracker and we are delighted to be part of this strong collaboration to bring 5G virtualization to market faster.”

In the telco world, NEC might well be a company to keep an eye on. While operators only account for 50% of the company’s revenues each year, the team has big ambitions to increase this year-on-year, with the SDN/NFV portfolio leading the charge.

“As service providers and 5G technology services take center stage in the near future, we foresee our SDN/NFV solution to contribute more than 10% to our carrier solutions revenues per year within the next three years,” said Chong.